Sheriff James Freihoff reported the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office (VCSO) received 1,208 detainer requests in 2024 and said 133 of those met the county’s eligibility criteria under state law, with 45 people transferred to federal custody.

At the county’s annual Truth Act forum, Freihoff said the data he presented covered calendar-year 2024 and that the department’s contacts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are limited by state law (commonly referenced as SB 54). He said the county booked roughly 20,076 people in 2024 and that ICE “picked up” 45 people who met the qualifying criteria. “We don’t hold people beyond their release date,” Freihoff said. “If ICE is there to get them, they get them. If they’re not, they don’t and they get released.”

The Truth Act (transparent review of unjust transfers and holds) requires a public forum when local jails provide ICE access to people in custody. Freihoff said the office treats transfers as voluntary and limited to people who meet narrow statutory criteria — for example certain current or recent convictions or people “held to answer” at preliminary hearings. He cited federal criminal-entry statutes (8 U.S.C. 1325 and 8 U.S.C. 1326) while explaining how local prosecutions and conviction timelines affect eligibility for ICE pickup.

Freihoff reviewed year-to-year counts he provided: in 2022 about 22,000 bookings with 796 detainer requests (144 eligible, 15 picked up); in 2023 about 21,685 bookings with 884 detainer requests (181 eligible, 43 picked up); and in 2024 about 20,076 bookings with 1,208 detainer requests (133 eligible, 45 picked up). He said he could not explain why ICE’s pickups rose from 15 in 2022 to the 40s in later years: “I don’t have an understanding or any explanation for at all why their numbers have increased,” he said.

Freihoff presented a range of case summaries he said illustrate why his office cooperates with ICE in qualifying circumstances. The examples he described included current or historic arrests and convictions for offenses such as lewd acts with a minor, possession for sale of controlled substances, domestic battery with corporal injury, residential burglary, robbery, identity theft, and assault with a deadly weapon. Freihoff said many of those transferred had prior arrests and that some later reoffended after release. “Many of these folks are continuing to reoffend and typically reoffend against their own community members,” he said.

Probation Chief Ronald Miller told the board the county probation agency does not participate in immigration enforcement in the community and that, for 2024, probation staff did not share address information with federal officers. Miller said the juvenile detention average daily population for 2024 was 64 and that no youth were held past their scheduled release day for immigration purposes; “There were no detainers,” he said.

The forum emphasized process limits. Freihoff repeatedly referenced state restrictions on local immigration enforcement and said SB 54 allows but does not require cooperation in narrow circumstances. He also told the board that decisions about communication with ICE for people in his custody are his to make as jail administrator. The public forum concluded with no board action required or taken.

Ending note: The presentation was informational for the board and the public as required by the Truth Act; supervisors did not vote on any policy or directive at this session.